Morbi: Massive sinkhole that sucked in 135 lives

MORBI: The 135 victims of October 30 Morbi suspension bridge collapse not only met a watery grave but a mucky death.
Morbi may be acclaimed as India's ceramic and clocks town with a combined turnover of nearly Rs 50,000 crore but does not have a proper drainage system. The Machchhu River bisecting the town is nothing but a vast swathe of sewage that is dumped here in absence of the basic infrastructure.
The entire sewage of around 50,000 houses in the town having a population of nearly 3.70 lakh is merely dumped into the river.
A fire brigade personnel from Ahmedabad, who has been deployed for search and rescue operation, said that they had a tough time locating the bodies due to filth. "Due to drainage water, we could not rescue people from the river properly and some of the bodies were stuck in the filth and sludge on the riverbed," the officer said.
A senior municipality officer said that the old city of Morbi does not have a drainage system. "We have open drainage in Morbi and no proper underground drainage channels. So, the sewage of at least 50,000 houses in the old city and surrounding areas flows into Machchhu through the nullahs outside the houses," said a senior civic body officer. Also, Machchhu flows bank to bank only during monsoon and constantly raises a stink.
"People in Ahmedabad have Sabarmati riverfront, Kankaria lakefront and many other lakes for hanging out. For us, the bridge was the only recreation spot. But we don't enjoy the river view as it has only drainage water," said Mahesh Gohel, a resident of Sama Kantha area.
A police officer, who was part of the rescue operation, said that there was a very slim chance of those who fell into the river due to the drainage water.
"It was gross negligence by the civic body who allowed a free flow of drainage into the river. They did not drown in the river, but met a watery grave in a massive gutter," said a police officer.
Girish Ghelani, a social activist, said, "The civic body has never had a sewage disposal plan. The officials should be made accountable for this oversight."